Draft connection for vehicles.



No. 744,236. PATENTED NOV. 17,1903. W; M. RIGKBTTS.

DRAFT CONNECTION FOR VEHICLES.

APPLIOATIONIILED MAY 8, 1903.

no MODEL.

Snow W040 am [Wolfe/its I I f 94/ "F, at 1 0M124 THE NORRIS wzrzqxs cu.PHDTO'UTHO WASNINGTDN, D. c.

No. 744,236. I UNITED STATES Patented November 17,1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM M. RICKETTS, OF COLUMBUS, OlllO, ASSIGNOR TO ADA T. STUTSON, OFCOLUMBUS, OHIO.

DRAFT CONNECTION FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 744,286, datedNovember 1'7, 1903.

Application filed May 8,1903. Serial No. 156,291. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it kn own that 1, WILLIAM M. RICKETTS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Columbus,in the county of Franklin and State ofOhio, have invented a certain new and usevful Improvement in DraftConnections for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to draft connections for vehicles, and isparticularly designed to provide an improved device of this character inthe nature of a clevis which is especially adapted for application todraw-bars, such as whiffletrees, swingletrees, &c., it also beingdesigned to have the device adjustable for adaptation to draw-bars ofdifferent sizes and to provide a loose connection between the bodyportion of the clevis and the trace.

WVith these and other objects in view the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularlypointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes inthe form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within thescope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is aside elevation of a draft connectionconstructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a topplan View thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the line 3 3 ofFig. 2.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each andevery figure of the drawings.

As hereinbefore indicated, it is especially designed to have the presentdevice applicable to whiffletrees and the like, and therefore it iscomposed of a clip or body member made up of upper and lower sections 1and 2, re-

spectively, said sections being bowed or of,

arcuate shape so as to snugly embrace the end or an intermediate portionof a whiffletree. The rear ends of the sections or members 1 and 2 havea pivotal or hinged connection 3, which is arranged to permit of themembers being swung toward and away from one another in the same plane.The front ends of the members are extended into flat parallel ears 4 and5, which are capable of lying flat against one another and are providedwith corresponding perforations 6 and 7, respectively, of which theperforation 6 is smooth, while the other perforation 7 isscrew-threaded. One of the ears, preferably the lower, is extendedbeyond the other and provided with an integral bifurcated knuckle 8. Forconnecting the free ends of the clip members there is a screw-threadedfastening 9, which passes loosely through the perforation in the ear 4and engages the screwthreaded perforation of the ear 5. understood thatthe screw 9 has a sufficiently loose fit within the perforation of theear 4 to permit of separation of the members 1 and 2 upon their pivotalconnection 3 to fit whiffietrees of different sizes.

For convenience in connecting a trace to the clip there is a suitablehook 10,. having its rear end provided with a reduced knuckle 11, whichis received within the bifurcated knuckle 8 and is hinged thereto bymeans of a pivot-pin 12, piercing both knuckles,

It will be whereby the hook is capable of swinging movements in avertical direction. It is pre-' ferred to have the bill portion of thehook at the under side thereof, so as to prevent as far as possibleaccidental disengagement of a trace from the hook.

In fitting the device to a whiffletree the screw 9 may be loosened. andthe clip members 1 and 2 slipped over the end of the whiffletree, or thescrew 9 maybe entirely removed, so as to permit of the clip membersbeing sufficiently separated upon their pivotal connection for directapplication to any intermediate portion of the Whiffletree. After theclip has been properly located upon the whiffletree the fastening 9 isset into place, so as to draw the clip members into snug engagement withthe tree,there being suitable spurs,teeth, or pointed projections 13upon the inner faces of the clip members to bite into the tree andinsure a rigid connection therewith.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that the device ofthe present invention is Very simple, efficient, and inexpensive, and itis adapted to embrace a tree, and thereby avoid weakening the latter bypass ing fastenings therethrough. Furthermore,

the device is adjustable, so as to be applicable to trees of differentsizes, and is also capable of being directly applied to and removed fromany portion of a tree Without sliding the device across the end of thetree.

A very important advantage of the present device resides in the factthat the hook 10 is entirely independent of the fastening 9,Wherebyeither of these parts may be applied and removed Without disturbing theother, and strain is not transferred from the hook to the fastening.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed, and desired to besecured by Letters Patent, is

1. A device of the character described embodying a pair ofpivotally-conneeted clip members to embrace a draw-bar, the free end ofone of the members being provided with a knuckle projected in front ofthe other member, means for detachably connecting the free ends of theclip members to lock the same upon the bar, and a vertically-swinginghook pivotally connected to the knuckle.

2, A device of the character described, em-

bodying a pairof arcuate pivotally-connected clip members, the free endsof which are provided with corresponding perforations, one of theperforations being smooth and the other being screw-threaded, the clipterminal having the screw-threaded perforation being extended in frontof the other terminal and provided with a knuckle, a hook pivotallyc011- nected to the knuckle, and a screw loosely engaging the smoothperforation and adj ustably engaging the screw-threaded perforation.

3. A device of the character described, embodying a pair ofpivotallyconnected clip members to embrace a draw-bar, means forconnecting the free ends of the clip members to lock the same upon thebar, and verticallyswinging means carried by one of the members forconnection with a trace and independent of the means for connecting thefree ends of the clip members.

XVILLIAM M. RICKETTS.

In presence of- A. L. PHELPS, C. O. SHEPHERD.

